


A Very Original Christmas

by Anastasia_G



Category: Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: AU, Christmas, F/M, Fluff, Holiday, Multi, Romance, klonnie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-26
Updated: 2013-12-26
Packaged: 2018-01-06 05:19:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1102879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anastasia_G/pseuds/Anastasia_G
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rebekah has big plans for a Christmas dinner to bring her family together. Bonnie drags along a reluctant Klaus. Ugly Christmas sweaters and emergency trips to Wal-mart ensue. Fluffy with some smut and mild angst.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A little fluffy romantic holiday present for all you Bonnie stans and Klonnie shippers. Enjoy :)

“For being centuries old you can whine like a baby,” Bonnie swept some mascara on her lashes and leaned back for a look. The new dull-gold eyeshadow looked perfect against her warm brown skin.

 

She could hear her irate boyfriend pacing outside the bathroom door, “I’m not whining, Bonnie, I’m merely cynical about Rebekah’s misbegotten desire to play Martha Stew just because she and Stefan are shacking up.”

 

“Martha Stewart.”

 

“What?”

  
“It’s Martha Stewart,” she lowered her mascara wand, “And she survived prison-time, so I wouldn’t be talking down about her.”

 

“Whatever the case, merry Yuletide meals aren’t exactly a family tradition.”

 

And that’s when she caught the faint bitterness in his voice. She’d felt it all month, that undercurrent of anger and resentment as Rebekah’s family Christmas dinner grew closer and closer.

 

Bonnie zipped up her makeup purse and lowered her voice “Did you guys celebrate Christmas, I mean Yule, before-?”

 

Silence welled from the other side of the door and she wondered if she’d made a mistake. His parents were still an open wound for Klaus in many ways.

 

She wheeled around, hand on the doorknob, when she heard his voice all quiet and carefully modulated, an effort she now recognized as masking the scars beneath, “Mikael would take Elijah and Kol hunting, so I would stay and help my mother and Rebekah. He said it was just another example of my unmanliness.”

 

It was hard, it was always hard, to know what to say or do when Klaus talked about Mikael. Bonnie’s relationship with her parents were lukewarm at best, but she’d never suffered years of abuse, or lived centuries with the shadow of rejection looming over her.

 

“You know,” she started turning the knob, “the good thing about Yuletide, or Christmas, is that it’s bringing something new, and leaving the old behind.” She stepped out, brushing some lint off her heather-grey sweater dress, “I know it’s hard but, I think Rebekah is trying to look to the future. And sometimes, whether we’re human or vampire, hope is all we have.”

 

Klaus turned from his spot at the window as she walked out. Slowly, as his eyes took her in, his expression shifted like shadows beneath water. The deep frown softened until it was almost a smile, the brooding darkness left his eyes to reveal the clear, careless, devilish glint she associated quintessentially with Klaus. She did a little spin so he could take her in, the dress clung to her in all the right places, warm but snug and shapely.

 

He closed the distance between them and brushed a hand across her week, pushing away the wave of dark curls. She could tell from the pleased smile that he’d seen the earrings: exquisite little sapphire drops he’d gifted her for her birthday.

 

Bonnie put a hand on his chest, “I know this is all strange but, I think Rebekah’s really trying. You’re still here, Mikael isn’t, and that’s something to celebrate.”

 

Before she could protest he’d picked her up and she was forced to wrap her arms around his neck for support, “Klaus, we’re already late,” she tried to sound stern, even though the look in his eyes and the dimpled, impish smile was already making her stomach do flip-flops and the back of her neck flush warm.

 

“I’m sure Elijah’s already there, punctilious bloke that he is,” he nuzzled her hair and placed soft kisses along her cheekbone, walking carefully towards the bed as he did so, “and you smell delicious.”

 

“My makeup took forty five minutes.”

 

“This will only take ten.”

 

“Klaus!”

 

“Have I ever told you,” he paused at the foot of the bed to lean his forehead against hers, and her heartbeat sped up even more. They’d been dating for almost six months now and things were powerful and complex and sometimes so-deep-it-took-her-breath-away between them, but they’d never actually said The Three Words. “how much I love hearing my name on your lips.”

 

Was it relief or disappointment that stabbed her? Both?

 

“No,” she wriggled out of his arms to stand in front of him, pulling the dress down over her hips, “but you can tell me on the car ride over - ”

 

Breath left her as her back hit the bed, hair spreading every which way while he crawled over her, that teasing grin on his lips, though his eyes were sobre and contemplative, like she might vanish any second. Her own smile faded as he lowered his mouth to hers, and the spicy cool scent of his cologne hit her, and her own heartbeat grew intoxicating, and suddenly the painstakingly applied lipstick didn’t seem so important, “Let me show you first.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

The first thing Bonnie noticed when they pulled up to the driveway of the small yellow house that Stefan and Rebekah had taken up in was the former standing on the front steps with a tall dark-haired man in one of those hideous Christmas sweaters; this particular atrocity was bright green with white cartoon reindeer doing some sort of foxtrot around the middle.

 

“Is that-,” she squinted as Klaus unbuckled his seatbelt.

 

“Good god.”

 

“They look upset,” she had to swallow her giggles at the sight of serious and urbane Elijah Mikaelson wearing something that looked like it was knitted by a senile old grandma.

 

As though on cue, the oldest Original spun around, “Ah, Niklaus, late as usual.”

 

Klaus slid an arm around her waist as they strode over. He looked like he was about to respond with equanimity but a sudden burst of laughter nearly bent him double. Bonnie couldn’t contain a giggle or two as Elijah stood there, haughty eyebrow cocked and mouth set in a very serious line indeed.

 

Bonnie enjoyed hearing Klaus laugh free of some dark purpose or bitter cynicism. It warmed her insides like mulled wine.

 

Elijah clicked his jaw, “Yes well if you’re quite finished, we have a bit of a situation on our hands.”

 

Klaus pretended to compose himself, “Yes, clearly your knitting is disturbingly misguided.”

 

Bonnie noticed Stefan had his jacket zipped up all the way to his neck, “You got a sweater too huh?”  
  
Stefan looked pained, “She wants all of us to wear them. Something about ‘more family unity’ and all that.”

 

Klaus was positively bouncing on his feet with mirth, “Come on, now, don’t keep us in suspense.”  
  
Stefan rolled his eyes and unzipped his jacket with a resigned sigh.

 

Bonnie let out a little yelp. Elijah flicked his eyes away like they were too refined for such puerility. Beside her she could hear Klaus nearly choking.

 

In the center of Stefan’s bright, very bright, red sweater was a digital picture of him and Rebekah silhouetted against a dramatic Aspen background. It looked for all the world like the cover of a seasonal dime-store romance novel.

 

Just then the door swung open, followed by a wave of smoke smelling unmistakeably of burnt ham. Rebekah stuck her head out, blond hair disheveled and pretty face obviously distressed.

 

“Could you two bloody get inside? It’s all your fault the ham is ruined, and- oh hi Bonnie luv - and now I’ve got grease on my sweater, and I don’t even know what the pie is doing and-,” she broke off when Bonnie stepped up squeezed her arm.

 

“Hey calm down, Rebekah, it’s not a big deal, let’s go inside and-,”  
  
“Everything’s ruined! And it’s all Elijah’s fault! He confused me with this ridiculous talk of fahrenheit and celsius and -,”

 

“Because baking a ham at 50 degrees is clearly logical,” the older brother rolled his eyes.

 

“Honey,” Stefan began, “he was only trying to-,”

 

“And you!” Rebekah whirled on him, voice rising “you were supposed to be watching the sauce, now it’s-,”

 

“Alright, Bekah luv, let’s calm down for a bit,” Klaus joined Bonnie on the top step and gave his sister a comforting squeeze on the shoulder, though Bonnie could see his lips twitching with barely concealed amusement.“I’m sure something can be salvaged.”

  
  


Rebekah leaned into her favourite brother, “Oh Nik, I’m so glad you’re here. They’ve destroyed my kitchen and made an absolute MESS of the tree. Would you decorate it for me, please? You’re the artistic one.”

 

Klaus smirked and turned to the two disgruntled vampires, “Why of course I will. Clearly these philistines must be stopped.”

 

Bonnie rolled her eyes. Rebekah perked up with one of those girlish bouts of cheer she was prone to, even after centuries as a vampire, “Thank you, Nik. I’ll get your sweater.”

 

“My—wait.”

 

This time it was Elijah who smirked, “Oh don’t worry little brother, it’s every bit as  _artistic_  as ours.”


	3. Chapter 3

Bonnie surveyed the damage inside Rebekah’s kitchen. The ham was quite pitifully charred, and the cranberry sauce was a bubbling crust at the bottom of the pan. There was a pan of mashed potatoes that looked like greying baby food, and some raw greens sitting uncut on the counter top. She realized that Klaus had always had hired cooks on hand, which probably gave Rebekah no practice in the culinary arts.

 

“Well,” she said with deliberate brightness, “it could be worse.”

 

“How?” the blond vampire wailed, ignoring Stefan’s comforting hand rubbing her back, “everything’s a mess.”

 

“Well,” she thought fast, “we still have time to make some roast chicken and mashed potatoes, those don’t take very long. And you still have the pies to make.”

 

“That’s true,” Rebekah conceded, “Elijah! Nik! Get in here.”

 

“We’re a bit busy at the moment,” Klaus shouted back from the living room.

 

“Busy doing what?” Rebekah stormed out of the kitchen, Bonnie and Stefan trailing behind.

 

There was Elijah with bits of tinsel clinging to his sweater and hair, still looking impeccably composed as he untangled a length of Christmas lights in his large hands. Bonnie glimpsed Klaus ducking behind the branches.

 

“Leave the tree for now boys, we need some supplies.”

 

“Why can’t he go?” Elijah nodded at Stefan.

 

“Because the last time he spent four hours looking for “organic alternatives.”

 

“Hey,” Stefan protested, “just because we don’t need the food nutritonally doesn’t mean we shouldn’t-,”

 

“Yes yes, you were a hippie in another life, I get it,” Rebekah quipped, but she was smiling.

 

That’s when Klaus came into view from behind the tree, and Bonnie almost spluttered trying to swallow her giggles. His sweater was grey, which was better than lurid red and green, and she actually loved how grey brought out his blue eyes, but there were fluffy cotton snowmen sewed on at the shoulders and chest that gave him the impression of having gotten in a quarrel with a bottle of Cool Whip.

 

Stefan snorted, “Very uhh artistic bro.”

 

“Shut up, Stefan.”

 

Rebekah handed Elijah a list, “Here’s what we need, get it and hurry back. We still have to finish the tree before midnight.”

 

Klaus glanced over Elijah’s shoulder, “And where are we supposed to find cranberries and agave nectar on Christmas Eve in this popsicle stand of a town? Or did you forget Mystic Falls is incapacitated during holidays?”

 

Bonnie pondered this, “No, actually there’s a small bodega on the west-side that’s open pretty late. You should be able to find stuff.”

 

They grumbled their way out of the house, Klaus stealing Bonnie for a quick kiss in the hallway that wasn’t very quick at all and elicited a stern throat-clearing from Elijah that reminded Bonnie he’d once aspired to a priesthood.

 

Klaus swore softly, “Next year, I’m whisking you away to some god forsaken part of the world for at least a month.”

 

Bonnie laughed against his chest, though her heart did a strange thump. He was thinking about next year, about the future. Did that mean-

 

“I’ll make it up to you later,” she whispered, causing his blue eyes to darken and earning a delicious squeeze of her ass like a promise.

 

Klaus gave her one of his wicked dimpled smiles and sauntered out the door with his older brother in disapproving tow.

 


	4. Chapter 4

The brothers pulled up at the bodega only to find it closed and empty.

 

Elijah sighed.

 

Klaus thought for a moment, “I have an idea. Turn around and let’s get on the expressway.”

 

His older brother cocked an eyebrow, “If you think we’re going to skip town and miss Bekah’s dinner-,”

 

“Of course not. Honestly Elijah I am offended at that insinuation.”

 

Elijah snorted as the car picked up speed.

 

“Besides, Bonnie would never forgive me if I did.”

 

“She’s forgiven you quite a bit already.”

 

Elijah’s tone was paternal, but Klaus still bristled. He doesn’t need people reminding him that he’s all but irredeemable before eternity save for the grace of a a single, sweet-faced witch. There were some nights he lay awake wondering, marvelling, that she let him lie beside her, much less touch her beautiful skin.

 

“So where are we headed then?” Elijah broke the mutinous silence.

 

“Wal-Mart.”

 

Klaus added, “Bonnie goes there for emergencies.”

 

As they merged into the expressway, Elijah cleared his throat like he’s about to speak. After several moments he finally does. “So, how are things going, with you and Bonnie I mean?”

 

“Fine.”

 

More silence.

 

“She’s a remarkable witch, and an even more remarkable young woman,” Elijah continued, “It’s quite fortunate -,”

 

“Yes I’m well aware of that Elijah,” Klaus snapped, “I’m well aware that Bonnie being with me is a complete mystery, that I should be thanking whatever lucky stars I have, believe me I berate myself enough without having to listen to you.”

 

Klaus shifted in his seat so he was looking out the window at the passing scenery. He wondered how old these trees were, how many of them had been alive when he was a child.

 

“You know,” Elijah started, “we can always bypass the supermarket and hunt some deer in the woods. I still remember how to strip a carcass.”

 

“Then you probably remember I was deemed unfit for hunting by our beloved father.”

 

They came off the expressway and turned into the Wal-Mart parking lot. It was awash with cars and scurrying pedestrians with dangerously over-loaded trolleys. Elijah maneouvered them into a spot and they climbed out.

 

The brothers fell into step beside each other. Elijah pocketed his hands, “I hated those hunting trips.”

 

Klaus glanced in surprise, “I thought you loved hunting. Father was always so exultant after-,”

 

“I pretended to enjoy it so he would be proud of me, but I can think of nothing worse than nights in the woods, freezing the piss in your balls, all to impress some sadistic bastard who called himself Father,” he stopped and faced his younger brother, “I was afraid too, Niklaus.”

 

Klaus took in the sight of Elijah, solemn as a priest in a ridiculous sweater, and for a moment he didn’t look like the regal older brother in whose shadow he’d languished for centuries. He glanced down at his own atrocious garb, the ridiculous bolls of cotton poking out his shoulders and chest. Oh, how Mikael would’ve ridiculed them. How he would’ve raged.

 

And that was enough to make him smile. He thought of Bonnie, his Bonnie, saying  _You’re here, and Mikael isn’t._

 

“Well big brother, let’s finish our errand before Bekah punishes us with more gifts, hmm?”

 

Elijah held his eyes for a second, then gave an imperceptible nod.

 

They strode in through the double doors, then froze. It was absolute chaos inside. The clatter of trolleys and the shouts of harried workers almost drowned out the cloying Christmas music. It appeared a fight was about to break out in the produce section, and scores of wailing children trailed after their parents, bouncing with sugar-energy. Almost everyone wore an expression of utter despair.

 

Elijah tapped Klaus on the shoulder, “I changed my mind. Let’s go hunting.”

  
  



	5. Chapter 5

Having dispatched Stefan upstairs to wrap the rest of the gifts, Bonnie and Rebekah set about peeling apples for the pie.

 

The blond vampire had calmed down some and they worked together in companionable silence. Bonnie wiped her hands on the borrowed apron and twisted her hair off her neck into a bun, causing her earrings to catch the light and attract Rebekah’s eye.

 

“Those are pretty. Did Nik get them for you?”

 

“He did, for my birthday,” Bonnie gave a small laugh, “I think they cost more than my old car. I’ve told him not to buy me super expensive gifts but…,”

 

“He keeps doing it anyway? My brother’s always been so insecure when he really cares about something, or someone.”

 

Bonnie kept her gaze on the apple she was peeling so Rebekah wouldn’t notice the flush along her cheeks or the flicker of interest in her eyes, “Did he tell you that?”

 

“Bonnie, I’ve known him for centuries, literally, and I’ve never seen him this way. It’s like he’s a new person…,” she lifted her head, pausing in the middle of mixing butter and flour for the pie dough, “…no, it’s like he’s the Niklaus he used to be, before Henrik died.”

 

Bonnie couldn’t suppress the smile that widened across her face, “You think so?”  
  
“I know so. I don’t know how you’ve managed to make him see the light, but it gives me hope. It gives us all hope.”

 

They exchanged glances and Bonnie felt a genuine rush of affection for this centuries-old Original who was, after everything, still a trusting girl at heart.

 

“You give me hope too, after all this time you’re still kind and loving. I respect that. And I know Stefan values it.”

 

It was Rebekah’s turn to smile and blush, “He doesn’t even mind when I get shouty. Sometimes I feel so happy I think it’s dream, that I’ll wake up in a coffin somewhere with a dagger through my heart.”

 

Rebekah yelped when Bonnie used magic to send a quick stab of pain through her foream, and the witch grinned, “See? you’re not dreaming.”

 

Stefan was instantly in the kitchen, a piece of duct tape stuck to his hair, expression concerned, “What happened? I heard a noise.”

 

“Bonnie and I were just talking,” Rebekah leaned over and kissed his cheek, prompting Stefan to pull her into his arms in a flurry of flour-dust.

 

“About?”

 

“How happy I am,” she kissed him on the mouth this time, and Bonnie averted her eyes from the increasingly passionate PDA.

 

“Stefan if you must grope our sister could you at least have the decency to keep it behind closed doors?” Elijah’s suave voice followed him and Klaus into the kitchen.

 

Stefan and Rebekah reluctantly moved apart, with Rebekah making a jab about her “prudish” elder brother which caused Elijah to threaten to regale her with his “adventures” in Paris upon which Rebekah made a grossed-out face and returned to kneading pie crust.

 

Klaus set his bag down on the counter and came up behind Bonnie as she sliced into the last apple, wrapping his arms around her waist and nuzzling her neck. The cold tip of his nose caused her to jump, nipping her finger on the blade.

 

“Tsk tsk,” Klaus affected, picking up her hand, “how very remiss of me.” As he sucked the drop of blood on her finger, his half-lidded eyes grew dark with a promise of Later, and Bonnie felt a shiver go through as she remembered the feel of his mouth on the curve of her neck, the inside of her thigh, her shoulder…

 

“Nik, leave her alone, we have to finish cooking.”

 

He sighed against Bonnie hand, “She’s right, Klaus,” she smiled, “We’ll be finished soon.”

 

“Very well,” he acquiesced, “I suppose I should go ensure Elijah and Stefan aren’t setting the tree on fire.”

 

He dropped a quick kiss on her knuckles and sauntered out of the kitchen, leaving Bonnie to subdue the tremors of desire running down her back and legs.

 


	6. Chapter 6

Bonnie was stepping out of the guest bathroom when Klaus grasped her hand and whisked her upstairs in a blur of vamp speed.

 

He set her down and she tumbled forward a little against his chest.

 

“Klaus, what are you-,” his kiss muffled her words, and she only protested for a second before melting into the moment, feeling his warm strong hands run up and down her back until the grey-wool of her dress was hot from her skin. When they parted she swayed into him, sliding hands down over his chest. “What are you doing?” she whispered.

 

“Making us late for dinner,” his hand slid up her thigh, pausing at the lace edge of her stocking. Blue eyes rose slowly to meet hers, all while his hand stroked higher up the sensitive skin of her inner thigh. When he spoke his murmur was low and suggestive against her ear, “If I’d known you had these on we would’ve never left your apartment.”

 

“I know,” she retorted, pulling him in for a kiss that soon ended with her back against the wall and her hands all grasping the curly blond hair at the back of his head. Klaus wedged a knee between her legs and hoisted her up by the ass so she was straddling his thigh. She gasped against his mouth as he rubbed her slow and delicious, the rough denim an exquisite friction against her damp silk panties.

 

“Klaus….they’ll hear us…,”

 

“I don’t care.”

 

“…let me spell the door.”

 

He released her with a groan and she stumbled towards the closed door. Bonnie had barely begun reciting the spell when she felt his chest warm and hard at her back. Those hands squeezed her ass, pulling her into the hard unmistakeable feel of his erection while his mouth brushed her ear,  “Luv, you’ve got me so hard I couldn’t care if the neighbors heard us.”

 

She swallowed a moan, focusing on the chant with her hand braced on the door frame.

 

“Hurry up, little witch,” he goaded against her neck, stroking the wet spot on her panties, making it grow wetter and hotter with his ministrations, “it seems neither of us can hold out for long,” his finger slid aside the moist fabric and touched her inner lips where she was already slippery with desire. Bonnie bucked against his hand and the last words of the spell fell sharp from her mouth. It was done, the door was sealed and no sound would escape it.

 

She tried to turn around but Klaus pushed her firm against the door, pinning her wrists above her head, “Ah-ah, not so fast,” she heard the smirk in his voice while he continued to rub and stroke her with his free hand, moistening her clit with her her juices, “I’m not finished with you yet.”

 

“Klaus…,” Bonnie rode up and down his hand, the angle and the inability to move any other part of her body concentrated the pleasure even more acutely between her legs, and she was soon sliding hot and easy towards orgasm.

 

He released her hands, but she wasn’t going anywhere. Bonnie groaned when he penetrated her with one finger, then two. It was unbearably sweet torture. His other hand found her breast, kneading and stroking until her nipple poked hard through the fabric. God, she wanted so bad to be naked and feel his mouth all over her hungry skin, but if they fell into bad now they weren’t getting back out for several hours, Christmas dinner or no.

 

“Come for me, Bonnie,” his command was more a plea, and that got her off even more. While he fucked her with one hand, she reached down and touched herself, rubbing and pressing her clit in time with his strokes. They fell into an urgent rhythm, Bonnie no longer even trying to restrain the moans and profanities spilling a song from her lips.

 

“That’s it sweetheart,” he urged, feeling her body tighten as she rubbed herself in a furious speed.

 

“Oh!…god, Klaus!,” she came swift and intense and with an almost violent pleasure, slipping up and down against his hand as she rode out the wave of sensation.

 

Bonnie sagged against him and he brushed aside the damp hair from her cheek. He took his fingers out of her and she turned around just in time to see him lick them clean, eyes half-lidded with dazed hunger as he tasted the very essence of her, and she felt herself go liquid with desire again.

 

Bracing her with one arm, he lifted her against the door and unzipped his jeans, and when she slid down onto his cock Bonnie thanked every spirit in existence for her magic, because there was no way either of them could silence themselves. He fucked her quick and hungrily, and she knew he’d been holding himself back with an iron grip. She wrapped her arms around his neck, tilting her mouth over his in a deep, languid kiss while he thrust inside her, “Yes, god, just like that.”

 

Her name was a strangled cry against her neck when he came, shuddered out of him, not quite a curse, almost a prayer, and she absorbed the tremors of his body into her own, rocking together on a sea of sweetness.

 


	7. Chapter 7

Klaus and Bonnie came downstairs to find Rebekah setting the table and Stefan and Elijah putting finishing touches on the tree.

 

Rebekah rolled her eyes at them, “I don’t want to know. Just go help them decorate.”

 

Bonnie suppressed a giggle and headed into the living room with Klaus. The tree looked quite beautiful, under Klaus’ instructions they’d arranged the green and red and gold ornaments just right so the colors glittered in seamless contrast.

 

Stefan was just wrapping the lights just so around the top branches.

 

“Stefan, you’ll make an artist after all,” Klaus drawled, wrapping an arm around Bonnie’s shoulder while she leaned into him.

 

Stefan glared.

 

“Is it ready?” Rebekah came in, holding a small box in her hands, “I want to put the star up.”

 

Stefan helped her onto a footstool and they watched as the dazzling crystal star was placed carefully atop the tree. “Stefan, luv, get the lights.”

 

Elijah plugged in the chord, and they waited.

 

Nothing happened.

 

Rebekah whirled on Stefan and her brother, “Why aren’t they lighting up? I put you two in charge of one thing ONE thing-,”

 

“Hey, Elijah said he knows what he’s doing- ,”

 

“I wasn’t the one who threw the instructions away-,”

 

Bonnie slid off Klaus arm and stepped up, “Guys, it’s not a big deal. This is when it helps to have a witch in the family.”

 

She closed her eyes and whispered a brief spell, and opened them just as all the lights glowed to soft, flickering brightness like a dozen fireflies.

 

“Ohhhh it’s perfect,” Rebekah breathed, “Thank you, Bonnie.”

 

Bonnie returned her smile, and they stood there for a few moments letting light fill up their eyes.

 

*****

 

Dinner was an eclectic affair. Klaus and Elijah had bypassed the frozen meat section at Wal-Mart citing chaos of a “vile and unspeakable nature” and returned home with rotisserie chicken instead.

 

Bonnie had helped Rebekah make old-fashioned potato salad using her Grams’ recipe. Elijah brought cigars and bonbons, Stefan had procured his family’s silverware from the 1800s, and Klaus produced a bottle of Macallan whisky.

 

Her family had never been religious, and after a thousand years as vampires saying “grace” before a Christmas meal seemed too trite even for Rebekah’s domestic fantasies.

 

So they settled for a simple toast instead, expensive scotch glittering in fine-cut crystal as they raised their glasses.

 

“To those who aren’t here,” Elijah said.

 

Bonnie caught Klaus’ eye and he gave her a small nod before adding, “And to those who are.”

 

****

 

When after dinner Rebekah insisted on the group singing carols together, the protests were mutinous. Elijah threatened to disown the entire family. Stefan looked like he was suffering from a pinched nerve. Klaus offered to recite every raunchy limerick he’d ever learned (and to Bonnie’s dismay there were several hundreds) instead.

 

Rebekah pouted for a while until Stefan distracted her with one of his gifts - a beautiful Swarovski crystal replica of her mother’s necklace.

 

After a few more glasses of Klaus’ scotch however, the group became far more amenable to singing.

 

Rebekah and Klaus took turns at the piano. Bonnie and Stefan partook in a duet of “Little Drummer Boy”, and Elijah surprised them all with a baritone rendition of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.”

 

After an hour or so of this they lay around, opening presents, drinking, Elijah making a great show of averting his eyes whenever Stefan and Rebekah’s PDA became flagrant. Klaus still sat at the piano, picking out a sweet and plaintive version of Pachelbel’s Canon in D Major.

 

He looked up and found Bonnie’s eyes, giving her one of those rare, wistful smiles and she felt a wave of warmth wash over her that wasn’t entirely the due to the glass of whiskey in her hand.

 

****

 

Rebekah had insisted they all stay over, and so Christmas morning found Bonnie waking up in Klaus’ arms, in the same room they’d stolen a naughty moment together the day before.

 

She snuggled closer to him under the down comforter; the perks of having a hybrid for a boyfriend were numerous, but constant body warmth was definitely top of the list.

 

His hand caressed the curve of her spine, “I have another gift for you.”

 

“Mmmf Klaus you already got me…,” she trailed off, distracted by the trail of soft kisses he was leaving on her shoulder and the curve of her neck.

 

“This one’s the most important. Close your eyes, luv.”

 

She acquiesced, muttering a complaint when he left the bed, taking the warmth with him. Bonnie heard him move about swiftly, the sound of paper being torn, and stuff being set against the wall.

 

“Now.”

 

Sitting up with the sheets held to her breasts, Bonnie opened her eyes. At first all she was the gilt frames and the careful blends of color, then as the figures came into focus she gave a soft gasp, lips parting in realization.

 

It was a series of paintings, each a glimpse of a different era, and each with a common subject: her. Her as a Viking maid with long braided hair, kneeling by the roots of a white oak tree. Her tending roses in a Regency garden. Dancing in the court of King Louis XV. Riding bareback across the sunset plains of the Old West. Sipping champagne at a speakeasy with pearls in her hair. And finally, her standing on Wickery Bridge with the full moon behind her, looking straight out with a determined expression, a grimoire clutched to her chest while the other hand extended outward in a gesture of protection.

 

Bonnie barely realized she’d got off the bed and walked towards the paintings, she was so mesmerized by them. When she looked up at Klaus her eyes were watery.

 

He frowned, “Do you not like them? I can-,” she flung herself into his arms, sheet slipping away so she was bare-breasted while she rained kisses all over his face.

 

Klaus gathered her up so her toes dangled off the floor, burying his face in her hair  He was murmuring words in a language she didn’t understand, though their rough-hewn tenderness made her heart thump.

“I love you, Niklaus Mikaelson,” she whispered against his mouth, holding his face with both hands. It was so easy to say it. She wondered why she hadn’t said it sooner, “I love you I love you I love you.”

 

His arms tightened around her small frame, just short of crushing her, “Every life I lived, every hell I travelled through, has been for this. It’s all been for you, everything, past and present.”

 

They held each other for long moments. Bonnie had weathered so much anguish these past years, she’d forgotten the simple sweetness of tears.

  
  


****

 

Rebekah turned out to be quite adept with a waffle iron, and they came downstairs to find the kitchen smelling of delicious breakfast and coffee.

 

The rest of the presents were quickly opened. Elijah appreciated Bonnie’s gift of two new silk ties. She gifted Klaus with a necklace of rare silver rosary beads she’d purchased from an antiques vendor. Stefan made Rebekah squeal with a diamond bracelet to match her earrings.

 

It was a satisfying haul all round.

 

As the day wore on, waffles were replaced with leftover chicken sandwiches, then more whisky, and no one quite remembered where the jazz music came from but soon they were all dancing. Bonnie took a couple turns with Elijah and found his dancing as stately and precise as his mannerisms. Klaus spun her around and dipped her with flourish till she was almost dizzy. Rebekah and Stefan swayed slowly together, lost in memories and each other.

  
Outside the snow drifted down soft and noiseless as a blanket over the sleeping earth.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everyone enjoyed this romp through Christmas cheesiness. Please leave a comment if you enjoyed it, no matter how brief. 'Tis the season of giving, y'all :P


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